CFP: south asian migration and diaspora + religion and conflict in south asia

Nordic Summer University - Summer Session 24-31 July, 2010
Study Circle 3
South Asia in the 21st Century: Explorations in Multidisciplinary Methodology
Call for Papers!!

This workshop will have two separate themes:
1. South Asian Migration and Diaspora (coordinators Peter B. Andersen and Igor Kotin)
2. Religion and Conflict in South Asia (coordinators Stig Toft Madsen and David Hansen (to be confirmed)

The first theme is a continuation of the workshop in the summer of 2009.

The second theme is the theme originally slated for the summer of 2010.
The two themes will be scheduled separately, but the intention is to let the themes enrich each other in the final discussions.

Theme 1. South Asian Migration and Diaspora

Various patterns of migration have created different South Asian diaspora communities in the Africa, the Caribbean, North America and Europe. In Europe, the research environment has mainly focused on the economic integration of migrant groups into the host community's labour market. The aim of this workshop is to investigate how culture, and the
organisation of culture, constructs various aspects of migration,
integration and diaspora formation.

Under the overall theme "South Asia in the 21st Century: Explorations in
Multidisciplinary Methodology", the workshop invites papers covering:

* The Historical Depth and Geographical Dissemination of South Asian
Migration
* South Asian Diasporas in the Nordic Countries: Identity, Community
Organization and Culture
* The Reflections of Migration in Art, Literature and Music
* Cultural Interaction between Diasporas, Home Communities and Host
Communities
* Migration of Religions, Religions of Migrants: Hinduism, Sikhism,
Jainism and South Asian Islam Overseas

Overseas migration from India is an old phenomenon, but during the last
fifty years it has become a global phenomena of great importance. With
approximately 1.6 billon inhabitants, the migratory potential of South
Asia is huge. Many pull and push factors influence migration, but
opportunities for employment, higher income, education, professional
careers, security and equality are important pull factors.

South Asian migration has changed significantly through history. The
Indian diaspora in the Age of Merchants (11th-18th century) followed the
movement of traders and merchants, religious and other specialists,
seafarers and slaves. Migration in the Age of Colonial Capital
(19th-early 20th century) involved the forced movement of people and the
movement of indentured labourers from India to many parts of the British
Empire, particularly those with plantation economies. It also saw the
beginning of free migration and the continuation of merchant activity in
both traditional areas and in territories newly opened by the expansion
of the empire. The mid-20th century post-colonial movement of people
from South Asia to Western countries and the related re-migration
involved business people and professionals to new and, in some cases,
formerly prohibited areas such as Australia. Now the diversity of the
South Asian diasporas is great: 'twice migrants' from East Africa,
refugees from the civil war in Sri Lanka, IT workers from Tamil Nadu,
nurses from Kerala, descendants of plantation workers from Bangladesh,
Bihar and Bengal, business people from Pakistan and so on.

Contributions may focus on the cultural and social life of the diaspora,
the ways in which language and religious values and practices have been
adopted and transformed, how some languages became languages of
communication and the sacred languages of religion, how popular culture,
theatre, cinema, music, dance, fashion and cuisine have evolved, and the
important role of sports, including cricket.

Within each country with a substantial South Asian population, there are
a number of local and national organizations that centre around
religious affiliation, cultural background, regional languages, regional
origin in the subcontinent, or particular cultural spheres, including
music, art, dance or sport. The transnational connections, communication
technologies, and increased purchasing power have made it easier for
them to establish contacts with communities elsewhere. The South Asian
diasporas are now a complex confluence of many discrete life worlds,
languages and histories. South Asian writers such as V.S. Naipaul,
Salman Rushdie, Hanif Kureishi, Rohinton Mistry, Amitav Ghosh, Jumpa
Lahiri, and Vikram Seth, as well as Bollywood and Tamil movies have made
diaspora life known to a general Western audience and generated global
interest in the South Asian diasporas.


Theme 2. Religion and Conflict in South Asia

Religious violence continues to be coupled to political conflicts in
South Asia. Such violence challenges not only the writ of government and
the capacity of the security sector, but also the values and daily life
of people in general. This applies most obviously to Pakistan and
Afghanistan, where Islamist religious violence is currently at a peak,
but it also applies to India, which is largely at the receiving end of
Islamism. In Bangladesh, the current government has taken unprecedented
steps to limit the scope for religion in politics. In Sri Lanka, a
long-running civil war has been brought to a violent end exposing
unexpected intra-religious elite conflicts. In Nepal, religion (read:
Hinduism) has lost much of it political clout, while Maoism has gained
currency. Here, left extremism seems to have crowded out religious
fundamentalism. The rise of Maoism is also felt in India, but here
Hindutva revivalism retains a central political position. Thus, in each
of the South Asian countries, religious arguments and religiously
inspired violence have at times structured political debates and
conflicts - while in other instances political conflicts do not wear the
cloak of religious.

Granted the frequency, scale and impact of religiously inspired violence
in South Asia, the region invites renewed examination of political
violence in a global perspective. On that basis, the workshop will ask:
What are the lessons that students of religious and nonreligious
conflict may derive from South Asia? Do political conflicts in South
Asia follow religious fault lines? To what extend does
Islamic extremism define regional political relations? How do religious
and nonreligious civil conflicts influence relations between the South
Asian region, the Middle East, and the West?

The session will also take stock of the capacity of religious movements
to moderate virulent expressions of faith. Within Islam, Sufism has
often been seen as a moderating factor with its rich blend of Hindu,
Buddhist and Zoroastrian culture. In Pakistan and India, religious
leaders have issued fatwas condemning the theories of jihad promoted by
Salafis, Talibanis and others. The question is how such
counter-movements fare in today's South Asia.

Finally, the workshop invites contributions on the role of the media in
reporting religious and nonreligious conflicts in South Asia. Where
doses conflict journalism stand today?


General information:

Language: The presentation at the NSU summer session may be in the
Nordic languages or in English. This workshop will be conducted in
English to encourage non-Nordic participation.

Fee: The fee covers boarding and lodging. Travel costs to the conference
site will be supported for participants from the Nordic countries as
announced on the NSU homepage; see http://www.nsuweb.net/wb/. NSU will
not subsidize the travel costs of non-Nordic participants, but the
coordinators of this workshop will try to subsidize a few non-Nordic
participants. More information about this later.

Registration:
The registration procedure will be announced by NSU around Easter, but
please contact us as soon as possible and send us a preliminary title
and abstract (200-250 characters) of your paper by April 30, 2010.
Please include your name, title, affiliation, phone number, email
address, and postal address.

For theme 1 please email title and abstract, etc. to Peter B. Andersen,
Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen, peterba@hum.ku.dk ,
+45-35 32 91 90/+45-35 42 81 53 with a copy to Katrine Herold, Project
Coordinator, NIAS-Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Leifsgade 33,
DK-2300 Copenhagen S, Katrine.Herold@nias.ku.dk, +45-35 32 95 04.

For theme 2 please mail title and abstract, etc. to Stig Toft Madsen,
Fil. Dr., stm@ruc.dk with a copy to Katrine Herold, Project
Coordinator, NIAS-Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Leifsgade 33,
DK-2300 Copenhagen S, Katrine.Herold@nias.ku.dk, +45-35 32 95 04.

Looking forward to see you in Finland!



Peter Birkelund Andersen and Stig Toft Madsen
April 19, 2010